We're looking into this issue right now. To be clear, I'm not sure how we fall on non-iphone photos. I think gorgeous photography is gorgeous no matter what you use. But it seems disingenuous to simply post your portfolio in a stream. So I hear ya -- we're working on it.

That being said, we absolutely DO NOT support stealing of photos, etc. and we're going to make sure we stop this behavior as quickly as we can.

Thanks for your reply. I'm thinking it's just a misunderstanding I had (and some other Instagram users I know) that people are supposed to snap and post photos taken with their phones. But if that's not the purpose of Instagram, there are no issues here.

It was iphoneography that brought me to instagram in the first place, and the main reason I'm now addicted to the program. I would really like to see IG as an iphoto only network, but if not, I'd really really like to be able to filter my feed to show only iphoneongraphic images or at least tag images from other image gathering systems.

As I see it now, and I'm really wet-behind-the-sensor with Instagram with only a couple of weeks on it, the only commonality we share is that an iDevice is required to upload and view.

Why? there are at least a few challenges up every day in which I like to participate -- while I don't like to think of myself as competitive, the fact is that I find myself reaching for the slr, heading for photoshop and tweaking images to compete with the high dollar cameras and processes.

Pulling EXIF data seems really logical, with limits -- just grab the camera source field. Seems easy enough to me, but I'm not a programmer. I'd also like to see what software was used for processing, but I don't think that's possible without the cooperation of the app developers.

I suspect that the simplest solution for the IG team is a separate app dedicated to iphoneography only. I'd happily participate in alpha or beta testing of that, or any other Instagram enhancements.

I like the idea of being able to post both. While the majority of my pics that are taken with my DSLR I post on flickr, sometimes I like to share a few of those pictures with my friends here on instagram, facebook, etc.

I agree that a gorgeous picture is a gorgeous picture no matter what you use. The best camera you have is the camera in your hand.

I wouldn't want to see limits....and I don't mind tagging somehow my pictures to let others know what camera I used either.

It's actually quiet an easy problem to solve, you just look at the EXIF data in the photo, and you practically show from which camera that the photo was taken, including the iPhone. This is I believe how Flickr works.

If Instagram is a app just to show beautiful pictures in the world, is far from be the best one, is a unfair competition. When i want just see the best pics ever i go to flickr or other place.
The best in that community is that we can see the creativity of people with few resources, new views of normal things and people's routine, in this case Instagram is the best ever...
For me is a source of inspiration and is really important to know what was took with an Iphone and what is not. I dont like to follow professional photographers for example.

I agree completely with what @danielevsilva said. I just unfollowed somebody the other day when I realised that there is no way his photos were taken with iPhone.
Don't get me wrong, I do like nice photos taken with the latest DSLR, but I think Instagram is not the place to show this.
Moreover, and this could becoming a real problem, these 'professional' photos are regularly featured in the Popular feed (obviously), which might be unfair to the others.
But maybe I'm just a purist :)

I'm willing to compromise though, as long as there is a clear indication where the photos came from.

Well, I think it breaks the first interest of Instagram. If I want to see DSLR great pictures, I'll go thru Flickr or even some photographer tumblr's (for the instagram-feed like). So I totally approve this request, tell us if it's iPhone or not !

The thing that made Instagram special was that it had pictures taken with the iPhone. If this was not supposed to be an important feature, than why was the application released only for the iPhone?

It's fun, creative & inspiring to see and take beautiful pictures with a phone :)

And anyway, if you are looking for photos taken with professional cameras, you wouldn't really want to see them only on your iPhone. After all, the screen is not that big :) If Instagram turns into just another application for professional / semi-professional photographers, it will loose all its charm...

My proposal is this: allow people to update only photos taken with their phone cameras (iphone or other phones). If you really insist on keeping photos taken with professional cameras, then at least mark them as such.

I use an Ipod Touch 3g theres no built in camera, I love the app though. I use an slr/bridge then export to Instagram. I have no choice right? I wish I could afford a ipod4, I'd really like to transform it into my everyday camera/pda. Sucks.

Seriously, there's a multitude of choices. By diluting the photo streams with high end photography, Instagram has become just another of the MANY photo sharing networks. How many do we really need? If you really want to show off your best dslr work, Flickr has an app for that. Filters IMO, would be very welcome, and would keep me interested in using Instagram.

Just make it an option for the viewer to see them or not. As I see it the 'popular' page is the problem as that is what turns this whole thing into a 'competition' For me its about sharing pictures not competing with or being better than anyone else. Unfortunately the 'popular' page kind of forces this type of approach.

As for unfollowing professional photographers - how do you tell the difference between something that is very good and a profession (someone thats gets paid for their photos)

I agree. As a sometime pro, though, I guarantee there's no way to tell just by looking what equipment was used to take a photo with only minor exceptions. Between a really lovely camera in the iPhone 4 and the ready accessibility of editing software for the iDevice platform, pixel for pixel at Instagram resolution, the iPhone camera is quite capable of going nose to nose with top end DSLRs. As camera control software continues to improve, the differences will shrink. Sure it's more work to get a great image tuned to the same level a DSLR does so effortlessly, but there's nothing inherently inferior about the iPhone camera.

I have to agree with Chris here. I mean, some people can even tell the difference between an Iphone app and a DSLR pic. I have been asked several times.....and they have been Iphone pics. I have had some people assume I am a professional. There is no way to know unless you ask. But people assume all the time. Instagram is more about making connections and sharing pics from all over the world. Isn't that why National Geographic joined?

Are you seriously considering not liking a photo because it wasn't taken with an iPhone?

It shouldn't matter what type of camera was used.

Instagram is a place to share photos (taken with, or stored in your phone's library) where the community then votes with their "likes" on what is good.

Owning/using a DSLR by no means makes you a good photographer. If you have an eye for taking good photos it you will take good photos whether you're using an iPhone, Android, Windows phone, Blackberry, scanned in Polaroid, or DSLR.

I don't say that I'm not going to unlike photos taken by non-iPhone. I just want to know which one is which.

Instagram is after all an 'iPhone' App, so it's only fair, IMHO, that the user get indication of the origin of the photo shared.

Of course a photo is an art by itself, and if you are a good photographer it doesn't matter what media you use. But the problem is, not many Instagram users are good Photographer, most of them just a hobbyist, or just plain trend-follower.
What's thre result of this? Almost all the photos in popular page are obviously not taken by iPhone! Don't you think it's a bit ironic, seeing that IG is fundamentally an iPhone app?
We should give a chance to the iPhonographer to shine as well, no?

I started using Instagram only last week and admit I was overwhelmed by the quality of photos taken supposedly with an iphone. Then I realized that many were taken with digital cameras. I searched everywhere for guidance on this and found this page, and, no IG itself has no guidelines as to how the photo has been taken.

With my iphone 3 it is very difficult to take a photo of any quality with its no flash/1 mp features. Probably would be a good idea to have posters choose from a menu the way the photo was captured...but if only everyone was honest!

I think a little icon would be nice ... just something to check mark when posting to say this was taken with iphone camera or not.

I really like this idea as there are just some pictures I can't take with my iphone but considering its always with me I try. Maybe it could be added when posting a drop down for your cameras so you can say specifically which you used. That way people know when looking at them and can assess quality and all the other things one researches when buying a new camera. Seeing a camera in action that way is always the best.

I started tagging my own photos with the make/model if it's not a photo I took with an iPhone. (#canon #s90 for example).

But I agree with the earlier posts that it would be nice to offer an easy way to indicate this with an official button or something. To me the main idea of the app is for mobile photos — like a Polaroid-specific community or something.

Otherwise, as others have said, it's just another Flickr, and far less interesting. I like constrained parameters and seeing what people come up with under those "restrictions".